Contact: Karen Stamm, 450-2020,

Gail Tomlinson, M.D., is interim director of the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute.
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SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 19, 2009) — About 100 scientists from major cancer centers will gather in downtown San Antonio Feb. 26-27 to share findings and exchange ideas at the Genetics and Biology of Childhood Cancer 2009 symposium. It is the first scientific meeting sponsored by The Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Institute celebrating its fifth anniversary
“It’s fitting that we mark our fifth anniversary as a scientific institute by hosting our first national meeting,” noted the institute’s Interim Director Gail Tomlinson, M.D., professor of pediatrics and the Greehey Distinguished Chair in Genetics of Cancer. “At its dedication on Feb. 24, 2004, when the Greehey institute became only the second pediatric cancer research center in the nation, a commitment was made before a crowd of hundreds. Scientists here promised to hold symposia to exchange knowledge with other pediatric cancer researchers. This month’s meeting honors that commitment.”

Greehey institute received largest single oncology endowment in nation’s history
The Greehey institute was established with generous public funding, $200 million from the State of Texas tobacco settlement, which represented the largest single oncology endowment in the nation’s history. That public support drives the institute’s mission to advance scientific knowledge relevant to childhood cancer and to accelerate the translation of knowledge into novel therapies.

Center investigates cures for rare kinds of children’s cancer
“There’s no commercial market to pay the high cost of creating drugs for cancers that may strike only a few hundred children a year,” Dr. Tomlinson said. “If centers like ours don’t develop the drugs, no one will.”

Meeting topics
Programming for the two-day meeting will focus on recent advances in the following four areas:

• Genetics and Epidemiology — Advances in genomic technology have led to increasing recognition of the role of predisposition in pediatric cancer. Ethnicity, family history and developmental anomalies work together to define cancer risks.
  
• Animal Models, Genes and Pathways — Fundamental properties of tumors, such as signaling pathways, are being uncovered at a rapid rate using exciting approaches with genetic model organisms.
  
• Genomic Instability and DNA Repair — When cells’ defense mechanisms are absent, scientists frequently discover genomic instability and cancer predisposition. Because many cancer treatments damage DNA, it is important to understand whether and how normal cells and cancer cells repair themselves.
  
• Disease Models and Pre-Clinical Studies — Carefully designed animal models reveal interesting drug targets. The development of novel treatment regimens can be accelerated by integrating basic science, in vivo studies and the National Cancer Institute Pediatric Preclinical Testing Program.

To learn more about “Genetics and Biology of Childhood Cancer 2009” or to register, visit www.gccrisymposium.org or call Danette Besancon at (210) 562-9164.

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